Applied Ethics

An Applied Ethics is an ethics discipline that is an practical philosophy discipline that analyzes specific moral issues and develops ethical solutions for real-world problems in professional domains and social contexts.

• AKA: Practical Ethics, Applied Moral Philosophy, Professional Ethics Discipline.
• Context:
  • It can typically apply Normative Ethical Theories to concrete situations.
  • It can typically analyze Moral Dilemmas in specific contexts.
  • It can typically develop Ethical Guidelines for professional practice.
  • It can typically evaluate Policy Implications through ethical frameworks.
  • It can typically address Emerging Ethical Issues from technological advancements.
  • ...
  • It can often integrate Interdisciplinary Perspectives from relevant fields.
  • It can often provide Decision-Making Frameworks for ethical choices.
  • It can often inform Regulatory Policy through ethical analysis.
  • It can often facilitate Stakeholder Dialogue on controversial issues.
  • ...
  • It can range from being an Individual Applied Ethics to being an Institutional Applied Ethics, depending on its applied ethics scope.
  • It can range from being a Domain-Specific Applied Ethics to being a Cross-Domain Applied Ethics, depending on its applied ethics breadth.
  • It can range from being a Traditional Applied Ethics to being an Emerging Applied Ethics, depending on its applied ethics temporal focus.
  • ...
  • It can utilize Case Study Methods for ethical examination.
  • It can employ Stakeholder Analysis for perspective integration.
  • It can apply Principle-Based Reasoning for decision guidance.
  • It can use Empirical Research for context understanding.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Healthcare Applied Ethics Domains, such as:
    • Medical Ethics addressing patient care, informed consent, and resource allocation.
    • Clinical Ethics focusing on bedside decisions and healthcare delivery.
    • Bioethics examining biotechnology, genetic engineering, and human enhancement.
    • Research Ethics governing human subject protection and scientific integrity.
    • Public Health Ethics balancing individual freedoms with population health.
  • Professional Applied Ethics Domains, such as:
    • Business Ethics covering corporate responsibility, fair trade, and stakeholder interests.
    • Legal Ethics regulating attorney conduct, client representation, and justice administration.
    • Engineering Ethics ensuring public safety, environmental protection, and professional integrity.
    • Journalism Ethics maintaining truthfulness, independence, and public accountability.
    • Academic Ethics addressing research misconduct, plagiarism, and educational fairness.
  • Technology Applied Ethics Domains, such as:
    • AI Ethics addressing algorithmic bias, autonomous systems, and machine decision-making.
    • Computer Ethics covering data privacy, cybersecurity, and digital rights.
    • Information Ethics examining data governance, information access, and digital divide.
    • Robot Ethics exploring human-robot interaction, robot rights, and automation impacts.
  • Social Applied Ethics Domains, such as:
    • Environmental Ethics addressing climate change, conservation, and sustainability.
    • Animal Ethics examining animal rights, animal welfare, and species preservation.
    • Sexual Ethics covering consent, relationship ethics, and reproductive rights.
    • Political Ethics analyzing governance ethics, democratic principles, and social justice.
  • Organizational Applied Ethics Domains, such as:
    • Corporate Ethics developing organizational culture, ethical leadership, and compliance systems.
    • Nonprofit Ethics ensuring mission alignment, donor trust, and community benefit.
    • Government Ethics maintaining public trust, transparency, and accountability.
  • Emerging Applied Ethics Areas, such as:
    • Space Ethics addressing space exploration, planetary protection, and resource utilization.
    • Synthetic Biology Ethics examining organism creation, biosecurity, and environmental release.
    • Neuroethics exploring cognitive enhancement, brain interventions, and mental privacy.
    • Geoengineering Ethics evaluating climate interventions and global governance.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Meta-Ethics, which investigates the nature and meaning of moral concepts rather than their practical application.
  • Normative Ethics, which develops general ethical theories rather than addressing specific cases.
  • Descriptive Ethics, which documents actual moral beliefs rather than prescribing ethical solutions.
  • Moral Psychology, which studies moral cognition empirically rather than providing ethical guidance.
  • History of Ethics, which examines ethical thought evolution rather than solving contemporary problems.
• See: Ethics Discipline, Professional Ethics, Practical Philosophy, Normative Ethics, Ethical Decision-Making, Applied Philosophy, Case-Based Ethics.

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References

2014

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/applied_ethics Retrieved:2014-6-5.
  • Applied ethics is the philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular issues in private and public life that are matters of moral judgment. It is thus the attempts to use philosophical methods to identify the morally correct course of action in various fields of human life. Bioethics, for example, is concerned with identifying the correct approach to matters such as euthanasia, or the allocation of scarce health resources, or the use of human embryos in research. Environmental ethics is concerned with questions such as the duties or duty of 'whistleblowers' to the general public as opposed to their loyalty to their employers. As such, it is an area of professional philosophy that is relatively well paid and highly valued both within and outside of academia.

    Applied ethics is distinguished from normative ethics, which concerns what people should believe to be right and wrong, and from meta-ethics, which concerns the nature of moral statements.

    An emerging typology for applied ethics (Porter, 2006) uses seven domains to help improve organizations and social issues at the national and global level:

    • Decision ethics, or ethical theories and ethical decision processes
    • Professional ethics, or ethics to improve professionalism
    • Clinical ethics, or ethics to improve our basic health needs
    • Business ethics, or individual based morals to improve ethics in a business environment
    • Organizational ethics, or ethics among organizations
    • Social ethics, or ethics among nations and as one global unit
    • Sexual ethics, or ethics based around sexual acts

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